Poolepynten and St John’s Fjord, Svalbard

Once again the sun was shining brightly on the sparkling blue seas. In the morning we came around the eastern side of Prince Karls Foreland – an island off the west coast of Spitsbergen, and from the ship we could see a small group of walrus lying in a heap on a sandy low shore. This was Poolepynten, and our morning’s destination. As group size for visiting walrus on shore is restricted, the plan was to land just one Zodiac group at a time, and shortly after breakfast the Zodiac operation commenced.

A short walk down the sandy beach on the point of land lay the walrus males. These strange and fascinating creatures are a wonderful thing to see. Although not very active, they did on occasion raise their heads, scratch or shift position slightly in order to lie more comfortably amongst the other walrus. Tusk size varied considerably with some bigger males displaying their massive tusks and others showing only quite small and narrow tusks. Males and females tend to spend the summer in sexually segregated groups, and we observed an all-male group today. They snorted and farted peacefully in the sun while gulls and terns circled overhead and a Minke whale was spotted breaking the surface of the water in the distance. One walrus made a brief appearance cruising along the shore in the water, but perhaps seeing our small group of red-parked people, it decided not to heave itself out onto the shore, and turned instead to some other destination unknown to us.

The sunshine gradually gave way to overcast skies and the winds picked up during the afternoon as we made our way over to St John’s Fjord. Given that the distance meant that we would get there at 3 pm, a Recap & Briefing was offered just after lunch instead of during the usual pre-dinner hour.

St John’s Fjord was a lovely spot that offered the opportunity for a fairly significant hike up to a ridge overlooking a glacier. Most people took the opportunity for this good leg-stretch and came to shore to start the steady uphill climb through some lingering snow patches and on to the ridge. Wildflowers were blooming everywhere and it was hard not to step on these tiny delicate creatures. Mountain Avens or Dryas was everywhere, with patches of Arctic Bell-heather and cushions of Moss Campion and the ever-present Purple Saxifrage in between. We admired the hardiness and delicate appearance of these plants that seem so fragile and yet survive in some of the coldest conditions on earth.

The wind at the top of the ridge was quite fierce and so nobody lingered up there for too long. A ptarmigan nest camouflaged in the tundra was seen by some on the hike back down and others saw a snow-bunting also sitting on a nest and tending its eggs. We admired their ability to persevere so easily in these cold conditions, but were glad ourselves that we had a warm ship to which to return and the comfort of a nice dinner and a warm bed.